1. Field of the Invention
The field of art to which the invention pertains includes the field of adjustable securing bases, particularly with respect to a support member whose curvature can be adjusted to support a part adjacent thereto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the construction of thermal protection systems for spacecraft, notably the space shuttle, it is necessary to install thin tile members, which are relatively brittle and have varying surface radius contours on the outer mold line of the spacecraft. Installation of the brittle ceramic coated tiles requires that a bonding/adhesive coating be placed on the tile inner surface for the attachment of a SIP (Strain Isolator Pad) prior to installation on the spacecraft. It has been found that when a wet coating is rolled on the inner surface of the tile, the ceramic tile may break when not evenly supported on its entire area. Conventional hold down techniques such as taping to a surface have been found to be unsuccessful due to surface to tile non-conformance. While vacuum hold down bases are known the bases cannot be adjusted to varying surface radius curvatures.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,293,739 and 3 460,822.
The present invention provides a surface radius of curvature on a securing base which can be adjusted to conform to and uniformly support a part thereon. Breakage of fragile parts is minimized because of this uniform support and utilization of hold down to secure the part on the base.